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Folkmordet 1915 på kristna minoriteter i Osmanska riket

Neopoulou, Kassiani LU (2022) LAGF03 20222
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
On the night of April 24, 1915, 250 Armenian politicians, poets, writers, doctors, lawyers and other intellectuals were arrested, most of them executed within 72 hours. This was the starting point of a genocide that until 1923 claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians and hundreds of Assyrians, Syrians, Chaldeans and Greeks. The Arme-nian genocide in the Ottoman Empire is today the most researched case of genocide, after the Holocaust. Despite the great unity of the scientific community and a broad factual basis proving that the massacres were genocide, there is a reluctance in Turkey to admit it and recognition also constitutes a criminal act.
This work aims to answer the question of whether the genocide in 1915 of the Christian... (More)
On the night of April 24, 1915, 250 Armenian politicians, poets, writers, doctors, lawyers and other intellectuals were arrested, most of them executed within 72 hours. This was the starting point of a genocide that until 1923 claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians and hundreds of Assyrians, Syrians, Chaldeans and Greeks. The Arme-nian genocide in the Ottoman Empire is today the most researched case of genocide, after the Holocaust. Despite the great unity of the scientific community and a broad factual basis proving that the massacres were genocide, there is a reluctance in Turkey to admit it and recognition also constitutes a criminal act.
This work aims to answer the question of whether the genocide in 1915 of the Christian minorities could have legal consequences for Turkey. This main question raises other questions that first need to be addressed. The essay will also examine whether the Genocide Convention can be applied to the Armenian genocide. Admittedly, all states are considered bound by the Genocide Convention be-cause it makes international customary law, but when the Armenian genocide took place, the Genocide Convention had not yet been created. Another aspect that is considered is that the genocide took place in the Ottoman Empire and that the Turkish state thus did not yet exist.
The essay’s conclusions are that the Armenian genocide may entail legal consequences for Turkey, according to international law. It is also stated that genocide was a crime before the advent of the Genocide Convention. Genocide constitutes a crime according to inter-national customary law and thus the Armenian genocide is punish-able even though it took place before the Genocide Convention came into being. Although there is no possibility of retroactive application of the Genocide Convention, the customary legal regulation of genocide can today be applied to punish the perpetrators of the genocide in the Ottoman Empire. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Natten mot 24 april 1915 arresterades 250 armeniska politiker, poeter, författare, läkare, jurister och andra intellektuella och de flesta avrättades inom loppet av 72 timmar. Detta blev startskottet för ett folkmord som fram till 1923 skördade 1,5 miljoner armeniers liv och hundratals assyriers, syrianers, kaldéers och grekers. Folkmordet 1915 i det Osmanska riket är idag det mest utforskade fallet av folk-mord, efter Förintelsen. Trots den stora enigheten inom forsknings-världen och ett brett faktaunderlag som bevisar att massakrerna var ett folkmord finns det en motvilja i Turkiet att erkänna det och ett er-kännande utgör dessutom en kriminell handling.
Detta arbete syftar till att besvara frågan om folkmordet 1915 på de kristna... (More)
Natten mot 24 april 1915 arresterades 250 armeniska politiker, poeter, författare, läkare, jurister och andra intellektuella och de flesta avrättades inom loppet av 72 timmar. Detta blev startskottet för ett folkmord som fram till 1923 skördade 1,5 miljoner armeniers liv och hundratals assyriers, syrianers, kaldéers och grekers. Folkmordet 1915 i det Osmanska riket är idag det mest utforskade fallet av folk-mord, efter Förintelsen. Trots den stora enigheten inom forsknings-världen och ett brett faktaunderlag som bevisar att massakrerna var ett folkmord finns det en motvilja i Turkiet att erkänna det och ett er-kännande utgör dessutom en kriminell handling.
Detta arbete syftar till att besvara frågan om folkmordet 1915 på de kristna minoriteterna kan medföra rättsliga konsekvenser för Turkiet. Med denna huvudfråga väcks andra frågor som först behöver bes-varas. Uppsatsen ska därvid även undersöka huruvida folkmords-konventionen kan tillämpas på folkmordet 1915. Visserligen anses alla stater vara bundna av folkmordskonventionen eftersom den ut-gör internationell sedvanerätt, men när folkmordet 1915 ägde rum hade folkmordskonventionen ännu inte skapats. En annan aspekt som beaktas är beaktas är att folkmordet ägde rum i det Osmanska riket och att den turkiska staten således ännu inte existerade.

Uppsatsens slutsatser är att folkmordet 1915 kan medföra rättsliga konsekvenser för Turkiet, enligt internationell rätt. Det konstateras även att folkmord var ett brott innan folkmordskonventionens tillkomst. Folkmord utgör ett brott enligt den internationella sedvanerätten och därmed är folkmordet 1915 straffbart även fast det ägde rum innan folkmordskonventionen kom till. Även fast det inte finns möjlighet till retroaktiv tillämpning av folkmordskonventionen, kan den sedvanerättsliga regleringen av folkmord kan idag tillämpas för att bestraffa förövarna till folkmordet i det Osmanska riket. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Neopoulou, Kassiani LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Kan folkmordet 1915 på de kristna minoriteterna medföra rättsliga konsekvenser för Turkiet?
course
LAGF03 20222
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Folkmord, armenier, Turkiet, folkrätt, kristna, folkmordskonventionen
language
Swedish
id
9104806
date added to LUP
2023-02-03 16:30:42
date last changed
2023-02-03 16:30:42
@misc{9104806,
  abstract     = {{On the night of April 24, 1915, 250 Armenian politicians, poets, writers, doctors, lawyers and other intellectuals were arrested, most of them executed within 72 hours. This was the starting point of a genocide that until 1923 claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians and hundreds of Assyrians, Syrians, Chaldeans and Greeks. The Arme-nian genocide in the Ottoman Empire is today the most researched case of genocide, after the Holocaust. Despite the great unity of the scientific community and a broad factual basis proving that the massacres were genocide, there is a reluctance in Turkey to admit it and recognition also constitutes a criminal act.
This work aims to answer the question of whether the genocide in 1915 of the Christian minorities could have legal consequences for Turkey. This main question raises other questions that first need to be addressed. The essay will also examine whether the Genocide Convention can be applied to the Armenian genocide. Admittedly, all states are considered bound by the Genocide Convention be-cause it makes international customary law, but when the Armenian genocide took place, the Genocide Convention had not yet been created. Another aspect that is considered is that the genocide took place in the Ottoman Empire and that the Turkish state thus did not yet exist.
The essay’s conclusions are that the Armenian genocide may entail legal consequences for Turkey, according to international law. It is also stated that genocide was a crime before the advent of the Genocide Convention. Genocide constitutes a crime according to inter-national customary law and thus the Armenian genocide is punish-able even though it took place before the Genocide Convention came into being. Although there is no possibility of retroactive application of the Genocide Convention, the customary legal regulation of genocide can today be applied to punish the perpetrators of the genocide in the Ottoman Empire.}},
  author       = {{Neopoulou, Kassiani}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Folkmordet 1915 på kristna minoriteter i Osmanska riket}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}